A lot happened at charity: water in 2011, so we put some extra TLC into our 2011 annual report. We also decided that this was the year to go digital, so we made it a website! Read all about the events, milestones and stories that made last year unforgettable. Launch the 2011 Annual Report »
from the field
September 13, 2012
Ever wonder what goes into the making of our September Campaign videos and stories? Besides unhealthy amounts of caffeine and all-nighters at the office, we have a little fun, too. And plenty of adventure.
Watch the video and scroll down for a rare peek behind the scenes at the making of this year’s September Campaign.
The charity: water team enjoys a brief break between shoots on the June trip to Rwanda. From left to right: Jon Reisinger (Videographer), Paul Pryor (Videographer), Scott Harrison (Founder), Viktoria Harrison (Creative Director), Jamie Pent (Videographer/Editor), Melissa Burmester (Project Manager), and Matt Oliver (friend of charity: water). Not pictured: Natalie Ingle (Copywriter). 
The kids of Gitambi go crazy when Vik demonstrates her jump-roping skills. Jamie is surrounded by new friends in Remera-Mbogo, and Paul and Jon set up our so-called “Jerry cam” in Kigasa.
With a tripod in place of a telescope, Vik surveys the Land of a Thousand Hills. Melissa reluctantly gets up close and personal with Bagina’s cow in Kiviri.
Scott tries out the latest youth fashion in Kigasa–a forehead sticker. In Kiviri, Jon and Jamie try recruiting new videographers, but the equipment is nearly as big as they are.
Melissa hitches a ride with a staffer from Water for People in Kiviri. On the way to a celebration in Kisaro, our truck starts spewing blue smoke. Once at the ceremony, Scott surveys the gathered crowd from on top of a water tank.
Lack of sleep catches up to Paul and Jamie, goofing off in the Nairobi airport. No wonder they didn’t sleep–equipment nearly covers the beds in Paul’s and Jon’s hotel room in Kigali.
Playing with kids is always one of the highlights of visiting new countries, and they can never get enough of Scott. Even Natalie’s hair is a source of fascination.
Jon, Paul, and Scott all aim their lenses at a woman they passed on the road, while Matt holds a reflector. Paul gets down on the kids’ level.
Latifa (translator), Jamie, Melissa, and Natalie strike a pose for their imaginary band in front of a sign for one of Rwanda’s most popular beers. Paul and Jon take aim at the town of Kigasa.
What would a set of travel photos be without a picture of food? This lunch is sweet potatoes, cooked green bananas, “Irish” potatoes, veggies, eggplant in nut sauce, and beans. And, of course, orange Fanta.
Want to know more about the people we met and the projects we’re working on in Rwanda? Watch the videos and check out the stories on our September Campaign site. Then join us.
September 7, 2012
Today, charity: water turns six! Our team is in Rwanda right now where work is underway thanks to our September Campaign supporters. We’re preparing to turn your donations into clean, safe water for 26,000 people. Check out this video, sent straight from the field, and join us.
August 24, 2012
Christy Scazzero
The death of a leader is always traumatic. When the Prime Minister of Ethiopia passed away earlier this week, his native region of Tigray virtually shut down.
That’s where our Water Program Development Leader, Christy Scazzero, found herself yesterday, surrounded by the surreal scene of public mourning. As part of a three-week site tour, Christy was visiting our partners at REST (Relief Society of Tigray) when Meles Zenawi, 57, died unexpectedly.
So when every last person in the city of Mekelle walked to the towering war memorial to mourn, Christy joined REST’s delegation. She called the experience incredible. And by joining REST’s staff during this emotional time, she got to know our biggest implementing partners just a little better.
Mourners walk to the war memorial in Mekelle, Ethiopia.
July 24, 2012
Yesterday, on the one year anniversary of Rachel’s death, our staff took her mom and grandparents to Ethiopia to visit some of the 37,000 people Rachel helped. Watch the video:
Rachel’s story.
Tekloini Assefa stood in the middle of a huge crowd, surrounded by Ethiopian priests, mothers, and children. Rachel Beckwith’s mom, Samantha, Rachel’s grandparents, and others in our group sat listening. We had all flown halfway around the world just two days earlier to visit some of the 149 communities Rachel helped in the north of Ethiopia.
“Samantha, your little girl is an inspiration to us all. We have heavy hearts imagining what it was like to lose Rachel due to such horrific circumstances. It is something no parent ever wants to contemplate, let alone live through. Even more remarkable is that Rachel developed such a big heart from such a young age — that she understood and felt the pain of others on the other side of the world. To give up her birthday presents so that other children can improve their lives, is the most beautiful gift a person can give.”
A little over a year ago, Rachel was your average nine-year-old. She loved Taylor Swift and had a secret crush on Justin Bieber, although she’d never admit it. She had a loving family and a heart that wanted to solve every problem she saw in this world. Once, she cut off all her hair and donated it to make wigs for kids who had cancer. So when she sat in church one day and heard Scott Harrison from charity: water give a talk about how kids her age in Africa didn’t have clean water to drink, she immediately decided to help.
With her mom’s encouragement, she created a fundraising page on mycharitywater.org, telling her family and friends that she didn’t want presents for her ninth birthday. Instead, she asked them to donate $9, as she was turning 9. Rachel wanted kids like her to have clean water to drink.
She had a big goal: to raise $300 and give 15 people clean drinking water. She fell a little short, raising $220, and told her mom that she’d try harder next year.
A month later, Rachel died from injuries sustained in a tragic car accident on highway I-90 near Seattle, Washington. A trailer had jack-knifed into a logging truck, sending logs tumbling down the freeway. More than a dozen cars were caught in the pile-up, and the trailer smashed into the back of Rachel’s car. She was the only person in her family critically injured, and on July 23rd, 2011, she was taken off life support.
When the news spread about Rachel’s story and her birthday wish, people all around the world began to donate on her page. Some gave $9, some $19, leaving comments like “This is the rest of my month’s salary…..” A month later, 30,000 people had given more than $1.2 million.
All of us at charity: water were blown away by the generosity. The comments and notes that were left on Rachel’s page caused many tears in the coming months, and Rachel’s story continues to inspire us today.
Last year, we sent 100% of the money from Rachel’s campaign to our partners in Tigray, Ethiopia, and they began to construct water projects for people in need. We made a promise to Rachel’s mom that one day she’d come with us to Ethiopia to meet some of the people Rachel’s wish had helped.
Yesterday, we fulfilled that promise.
On the one-year anniversary of Rachel’s death, we woke up early, at 5:30 A.M. We piled into Land Rovers and began the two-hour drive to Kal Habel village in the north of Ethiopia. We heard the community had planned both a memorial service in Rachel’s honor and a celebration of her life.
We didn’t know it then, but honor would become the theme of our entire day.
First, we visited a church. The priests there knew all about our arrival, and they knew Rachel’s story. They told us they had been up since midnight, praying that God would keep Rachel’s soul in peace. A photo of Rachel stood on the ledge, surrounded by candles. We paused, listening to the priests recite their prayers, singing ancient Ethiopian hymns over Samantha and her parents.
From the church, we walked to a new well nearby that was funded by Rachel’s donations. We cut the ribbon and watched water splash into bright yellow jerry cans. This water didn’t have dirt or leeches in it, and it didn’t carry deadly disease. It wasn’t far away from people’s homes, and they didn’t have to walk for hours to find it. It was right there, in their village, and it was crystal clear. To prove it, Samantha took a long drink.
The children wrote notes about Rachel, and handed them one by one to Samantha. A famous priest read a poem he wrote especially for the occasion, and then the village gave gifts to Rachel’s family. A mother from the village made a speech and said Rachel’s story would be a lesson to their children. She said that all the mothers in her village were praying for Samantha. Another community sectioned off a plot of land and called it Rachel’s Park. They invited Samantha and her grandparents each to plant a tree in Rachel’s memory.
Near the well, our local partners, Relief Society of Tigray (REST), commissioned a marble sign. It read “Rachel’s great dream, kindness and vision of a better world will live with and among us forever.” Her photo was nested in the marble, a permanent fixture in Kal Habel village. It will serve as a reminder to all the mothers who draw water from this well that a mother’s tragic loss and a child’s dream brought clean water to their village.
37,000 people in more than 100 villages will drink clean water because of Rachel’s wish.
Rachel’s mom, Samantha, continues to fundraise in Rachel’s honor. Visit her current fundraising campaign.
-Viktoria Harrison, Creative Director
charity: water
